Primary Department: County Courts
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Judge Erika Ramirez, Presiding Judge
Secondary Department: County Courts
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official: Ed Wells, Court Manager
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Policy
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): Choose an item.
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request for approval of a resolution supporting the creation of four (4) County Criminal Courts at Law.
end
Background and Discussion:
As the population of Harris County continues growing, the existing 16 County Criminal Courts at Law have reached and surpassed the capacity for processing cases in a just, fair, and effective manner while still disposing of cases in a timely manner. The result is a backlog of cases for all 16 courts. Since 1995, two County Criminal Courts at Law have been created; Court 15 in 1995 and Court 16 in 2015. In that time the population has almost doubled. Additionally, with new technologies and science, misdemeanor cases have increased in complexity. Complexity and the longer times to disposition place an additional burden on courts and all justice partners in the administration of justice. In 2023 The National Center for State Courts assessed judicial workload in the County Criminal Courts at Law and published their findings highlighting the need for 10.5 additional judicial resources in county criminal trial courts. The County Criminal Courts at Law are committed to supporting the efficient and effective administration of justice and support their responsibilities in being good stewards of the resources provided. In that light, The County Criminal Courts respectfully are requesting a resolution in support of creating (4) new courts and will work together with Commissioners Court, County Administration, Budget Management, and Engineering along with our justice partners to plan for new courts.
Expected Impact:
The creation of four new courts will reverse the trend of courts having backlogs; reducing time to disposition, active cases pending, and the percentage of disposed cases in backlog at disposition. Improved metrics reduce delays in case processing that add costs to individual cases, can impact jail bed days and expenses, and place unreasonable burdens on those impacted by criminal justice.
Alternative Options:
Delay the creation of two of the four courts until late in the interim or until the next legislative session. This will lower the additional capacity but will delay the operating and one-time expenses to future fiscal years. This will allow time to plan for those additional expenses.
County Strategic Plan Goal: 1. Make Harris County safer and more just.
County Strategic Plan Objective: B: Reduce criminal legal system exposure that does not advance public safety.
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): E3: Decrease time to disposition by implementing case workflow improvements in line with recommendations from the National Center for State Courts.
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): Choose an item.
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): Choose an item.
Health Initiative (Goal 4): Choose an item.
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): Choose an item.
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): Choose an item.
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
Prior Court Action (if any):
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
|
|
|
Location:
Address (if applicable):
Precinct(s): Choose an item.
|
Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
|
Service Name |
|
|
|
|
Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
Existing Budget |
|
|
|
|
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Existing Budget |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
|
|
1000 - General Fund |
$9,692,921 |
$810,000 |
$10,502,921 |
$10,502,921 |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Additional Budget Request |
$9,692,921 |
$810,000 |
$10,502,921 |
$10,502,921 |
|
Total Funding Sources |
$9,692,921 |
$810,000 |
$10,502,921 |
$10,502,921 |
|
Grants - Proposed Budget (For Grants Items only) |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
No. of Grant Years |
|
Local Match Source - Existing Budget: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Local Match Source - Additional Budget Request: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Grant Funds Applied for/Awarded (Total) |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
|
|
Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Additional Positions Request |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Anticipated Court Date: 3/27/2025
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): 3/1/2028
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Ed Wells, Court Manager, Office of Court Management
Attachments (if applicable):
1. Briefing Paper in Support of Addl Crim Courts 2025-01-27 with Dec 2024 Data_exclludesToBe- Copy.